When asked if Lin reminded him of anyone, D’Antoni said, “I’m not going to go there,” but surely enough he later drew a comparison to Steve Nash. Tyson Chandler drew a more sensible comparison, saying that Lin reminded him of J.J. Barea, his former Mavs teammate.

Like Lin, Barea attended college in Boston. He was undrafted out of Northeastern but eventually helped Dallas win a championship. What if Lin is following a similar career path?

“(Jeremy) was probably an inch away from being let go at some point,” Chandler said. “It’s a good thing it didn’t happen. That’s the way this game works sometimes. I’m sure the same thing was said about J.J. Barea at some point in his career. How did this guy come along? Where is he from?”

 “Then all of a sudden we saw what he was able to bring for a team that won an NBA championship last year. You never know. Some people take different routes to be successful in life. I know it’s going to continue.”